Adapt To Service Us
by Jed Rhodes
Summary: “We are the Borg. Life as you know it has ended. Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own. Your culture will adapt to service ours. Your defensive capabilities are unable to withstand us. Resistance is futile.”
1. Prologue: First Contact

Tactical scans indicated that the subtle alterations in the quantum signature of all matter were due to a subtle alteration of temporal events. The hive dedicated its full resources to discovering the location of the disturbance, and eventually located it in a place designated the Alpha Quadrant by it's inhabitants. A previously unexplored sector of space. The hive decided to change all of that. A single vessel was dispatched to garner tactical information on the sector – Cube 224534/12342. The vessel began its journey on timeframe 335446.34. Sixty three units later, it received a subspace transmission that came from units that identified as future drones – telling the collective to attack this sector. Cube 224534/12342 relayed this message to the hive, and continued its mission. Then it came upon a vessel, approximately 2200 metres in length, 6600 metric tons. The vessel hailed, and its commander, a humanoid, appeared. Several sub processing units registered his physical appearance; Silver Hair, gold shirt, black trousers. Apparently some form of military, since in the transmission, there were several similarly dressed individuals, in three distinct colours; possible representation of station/function/rank was considered.

The transmission the humanoid sent was as follows.

"This is Captain Ronald Tracey, USS Exeter, representing the United Federation of Planets. We seek peaceful contact. To whom am I…?"

Cube 224534/12342 activated audio matrix and sent a response; **"We are the Borg. Life as you know it has ended. Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own. Your culture will adapt to service ours. Resistance is futile."**

The vessel immediately raised its shields. The Borg vessel scanned them, then beamed multiple drones through them. It sent an additional message.

**"Your defensive capabilities are unable to withstand us. Resistance _is_ futile."**

The vessels crew were all assimilated, and the vessel was ordered to assist in the mission to discover all possible tactical weaknesses of this 'Federation'. The former unit 'Tracey' was to be an invaluable asset. References to the destruction of a planet known as Vulcan and a Captain called James Tiberius Kirk were noted, and the cube, with its new complement of drones (1100 in total) set a course for the home territory, to relay what it had learned.


	2. The Borg

**One Year Later.**

--

Captain James Tiberius Kirk, all of twenty six, walked through his ships corridors with something resembling urgency, but that he still made nonchalant in appearance (his trademark). Because he had been summoned.

As soon as he entered the bridge, his first officer, Commander Spock, one of only 10,495 Vulcans left in the cosmos, turned to face him, his serious face even more serious than usual. Gary Mitchell, Kirks newest officer, Chief of Security and Relief Helmsman (on occasion) looked serious too, which meant it really _was_ serious (Mitchell almost never looked serious).

"We've received a priority one message from Starfleet," Spock said. "Admiral Pike is attempting to contact you."

"I'll take it in the briefing room," Kirk said. He veered to a door on the left of the bridge, and sat down at a desk with a computer screen.

"Authorization Kirk, Kelvin 335," he said. Instantly, the visage of Admiral Christopher Pike appeared. "Chris," Kirk greeted him.

"Jim," Pike replied. "We have a major security issue to deal with; an alien race, extremely hostile, has invaded Federation Space. They've destroyed three colonies in the past six days, and they're apparently looking for something."

"Do we know who they are or what they want?" Kirk asked.

"We have two things," Pike said. "One is an image of one of their ships;"

And Pikes image was replaced by a large cube, together with a picture of the USS Enterprise to scale with it – the Enterprise was dwarfed.

"And the other is a transmission," Pike continued on audio. And suddenly a harsh, metallic chorus rang through the speakers.

**"We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile." **

"Can we find out anything else?" Kirk asked. "What they want, what they're looking for… what assimilated means?"

Pikes face returned, and he looked grim.

"We ran that message through the Starfleet database, for recognition programs; only one thing came up. A classified mission of the NX-01 Enterprise."

A new image, that of a humanoid Cyborg with a claw arm and multiple bionic components, replaced Pikes image, which then snapped back.

"If half the things we're sending your medical team are true, you'd best be careful when you go find them," Pike said.

"You're asking me to go find them? Alone?" Kirk asked.

"We're ordering you to go find them," Pike replied. "We have complete faith that you'll be able to stop them."

"They look pretty tough," Kirk countered. "You sure one ship can deal with it?"

"The Enterprise is the flagship, and she's our most powerful ship," Pike replied. "And if anyone can deal with the Borg, its you, Jim. We'll send their last known coordinates. Starfleet out."

Pike vanished, and Kirk leaned back. Then he summoned Spock, who arrived promptly.

"I want you to contact the other Spock," he said – the two had informed each other of their acquaintance with the older Spock – "and find out everything you can about the Borg."

"The Borg?" Spock queried. "Not a race I'm familiar with."

"Me neither, but the other Spock is from the future," Kirk said. "They must have invaded then."

Spock nodded.

"I will contact him on New Vulcan," he said.

--

Kirk marched out after his first officer, who left the bridge quickly.

"Mr Sulu," Kirk ordered his helm officer. "Set a course for coordinates 224.35."

"Aye sir," Sulu replied.

"Warp three," Kirk added. "Punch it."

Sulu engaged the ship, and Kirk looked around at his staff. He pressed the intercom so the entire fleet would hear him.

"Admiral Pike has ordered us to go looking for a ship belonging to a race known as the Borg," he said. "We don't know much yet, but Starfleet has sent its full database on them. They're hostile, so we're going to go to red alert. All hands, report to your battle stations."

He deactivated the intercom, and looked around to see his entire team working as one. Only Gary looked less than completely grim.

"What?" Kirk asked his friend.

"Borg," Gary said.

"Yeah," Kirk said. "Borg. What about them?"

"Sounds kinda Swedish, don'tcha think?" Mitchell replied. Kirk smiled at the very bad joke, but then his communicator chirped.

"Yeah?" he responded.

"McCoy here," his friend Dr Leonard McCoy said. "We just got Starfleets database on the Borg."

"And?" Kirk asked.

"You'd better come down here, Jim," McCoy said. "They speak for themselves."

Kirk got up and headed for sickbay.

--

When the elder Spocks' visage came up on Spocks' private communicator, Spock raised a Vulcan salute. The elder Spock returned it.

"To what do I owe this subspace visit?" he asked.

"The Borg," the younger Spock said immediately. If it were possible for a Vulcan face to blanch, the elder Spocks did.

"No," Spock Prime said. "It cannot be."

Spock ignored him. "The Borg have a single ship in the Alpha Quadrant," he said. "It appears to have destroyed several colonies. Since you are from the future, it is logical to assume that you know important facts about their motivation and technology."

"You are going to intercept them?" Spock Prime asked.

"Yes," Spock confirmed.

"You cannot, not alone," Spock Prime said. "Ask for reinforcements. The entire fleet. More."

"What are they?" Spock asked. "Why are you so afraid?"

"If you only knew," Spock Prime said, his eyes looking so ancient. "They are a race of conquerors. One ship has the ability to annihilate an entire fleet. More than that. They are ruthless, aggressive, monstrous."

"Such things do not tell me a great deal about them," Spock said.

"I am unaware of the technical details behind the anti-Borg technology that the Federation of my time used, if that is why you called," Spock Prime said, and there was a note of regret in his voice. "It is an oversight on my part. But I can tell you how to modify your shields to prevent them beaming through. Furthermore, I will contact Starfleet command."

Spock raised an eyebrow – his future self had said he would never reveal himself unless it was an emergency. So it was important.

"Anything you can tell me now about their abilities would be helpful," he said.

Spock Prime told him.

--

McCoy was waiting for him, looking pale and grim.

"What do they know, Bones?" Kirk said without preamble.

"Apart from the name," McCoy said, "which, incidentally, is kinda Swedish, don't you think…?"

Kirk gave him a look, and McCoy nodded.

"Right, but apart from that – these things don't kill."

Kirk did a passable Spock impression, raising an eyebrow.

"They do worse," McCoy continued. "They're in fact not a single race."

He brought up a display, which showed a Borg in all its mechanical glory.

"Obviously, these guys are Cyborgs," McCoy said. "But look closely at his face."

Kirk did so, and blanched. It was a Klingon face, ridges and all.

"Impossible," he said. "You saying they…?"

"They take people, they turn 'em into these things, apparently using nanotechnology," McCoy said. "That's what '_assimilating'_ is."

Kirk didn't know what to think, apart from the fact that this was more of a threat than he had realised. But before he could answer, a call came from the wall comm.

"Captain Kirk," came Sulu's voice.

"Kirk here," the Captain replied.

"Sir, a large vessel has just engaged an intercept course on us," Sulu reported. "We've scanned it and… it appears to be Borg."

Kirk locked eyes with McCoy, who nodded, and the two set off for the bridge.

--

Spock met them on the way. He looked pale, almost shocked, if that were possible.

"I have spoken with Spock Prime," he reported, "and he has told me some rather disturbing facts about assimilation…"

"We know," McCoy said. "Starfleet knew too."

Spock cocked an eyebrow, but could say nothing more as they entered the bridge, to see it on the screen.

A massive, black cube, with an uneven surface made of piped and exposed wiring.

"What a hunk of junk," Mitchell commented from the rear stations.

"Our shields are at maximum, Keptin," Chekov reported from tactical. "Weapons standing by."

Kirk stared at the ship on his screen, and felt fear.


	3. Assimilate

"Captain," Nyota Uhura said from the communications chair. "_You_ are being hailed."

Kirk turned to regard her, shock on his face.

"Not the ship?"

"No sir – you personally," Uhura confirmed. "By name."

Spock cocked an eyebrow.

"Fascinating," he offered.

"Put 'em through," Kirk said. On the screen, an image of a massive scaffold system, with countless gantries and walking humanoid shapes and little alcoves, came into view. Kirk stepped forward, although the gesture seemed meaningless.

"I'm Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise," he said. "You have…"

And then the voice he had heard before came through, cold and eerie.

**"James Tiberius Kirk, Captain of the Federation Starship USS Enterprise registry NCC-1701. You will surrender yourself to us or we will destroy your ship."**

"You've committed multiple acts of war against the Federation," Kirk countered. "You will leave or be destroyed!"

**"Your defensive capabilities are unable to withstand us. You will surrender yourself or we will destroy your ship."**

"Like hell," Kirk said. "Tactical, fire all weapons at will. It's a big ship, you'll hit something."

"Aye, Keptin," Chekov replied, pressing the commands.

--

The Enterprise was a bulldog fighter, designed to blow ten kinds of hell out of anything and anyone she encountered. But she had never fought the Borg before. The multiple shots, phaser cannon, photon torpedoes… they did nothing. The Borg ship stood there and took them all.

Then it fired back.

A green torpedo lashed out, and smashed into the hull – taking the Enterprises shields out in one blow.

--

"Shields down, Keptin!" Chekov reported.

"Transporters detected!" Sulu added.

"Arm yourselves!" Kirk yelled, grabbing a phaser from his belt. The crew ran for the compartments where the phasers were stored, and quickly distributed them, just as several Borg drones beamed in, in a haze of green light.

Kirk aimed his phaser at the first one, and set it to maximum.

"Set phasers on frag," he ordered, before blasting the creature out of existence. Spock fired on a second one, but impossibly, a personal shield popped up.

"They appear to have adaptive personal shielding," Spock noted.

"I don't care!" Kirk said, recalibrating his phaser. He fired again, and took down another Borg. Security officer Lee ran for another one, but was picked up and thrown across a room in seconds. Uhura blasted another. Spock had dropped his phaser and started fighting the Borg hand to hand, his superior Vulcan strength giving him an advantage over his crewmates. He knocked one Borg drone to the ground and kicked another into a wall, where it slumped. Kirk kept firing, but then two drones made a beeline for him.

"Captain!" Spock called.

The Captain struggled with the drones, but they grabbed him firmly and beamed out, followed by their surviving fellows – leaving one unconscious drone and four dead ones.

"Lee's dead," McCoy reported. "And they took the Captain."

"Take the Borg drone down to the brig," Spock ordered. "And follow that vessel."

--

Aboard the Cube, Kirk struggled with his foes, but they held him fast, and dragged him to an operating theatre.

"You're not turning me into some zombie!" he yelled.

"No," a soft, feminine voice replied. "We're not."

And then a Borg woman walked out from the shadows. Kirk blanched; she was beautiful, but she looked pale and bloodless, and her body was totally mechanical – only her head and shoulders were human.

"Who the hell are you?!" he demanded.

"I am the Borg," she replied, perfectly sincere. "And you are James Tiberius Kirk, Captain, USS Enterprise."

"You've done your research," Kirk sneered.

"We didn't have to," the woman smiled. A drone stepped forward, and Kirk blanched when he recognised him – Tracey of the Exeter, believed lost when his ship vanished.

"You bitch," he said.

"Temper, temper," she smiled. "We don't wish to upset you – merely for you to understand. We want perfection for all life forms, including you, including your Federation."

"You call this perfection?" Kirk asked. "Your ship is a massive junk pile, and your drones look about the same!"

She looked mildly annoyed, but she smiled again.

"Such spirit," she said. "You will be perfect, as the Borg's new Orator…"

And then, for Kirk, there was nothing more to be said. Just a lot of screaming.

--

Spock assembled the senior staff in the briefing room.

"My other self," he began, as this was by now common knowledge on Enterprise, "has offered his assistance to Starfleet. We, however, must rescue Captain Kirk. To that effect, I will go onto the Borg vessel with a small team, including Dr McCoy and Ensign Chekov, and attempt to rescue him. Lieutenant Mitchell will be in command. Any questions?"

"What's Starfleet doing?" Sulu asked.

"Starfleet will contact us shortly," Spock said. "It is logical to assume they will assemble a fleet to combat the Borg."

"What's our current course?" Chekov asked.

"We're following the Borg," Mitchell replied.

"Then what's their course?" Chekov asked.

Spock looked uneasy, which was shocking in itself, then he replied softly.

"Earth."

Everyone around the table was horrified – Earth?

"We will stop them," Spock promised. "Now then… Dr McCoy, come with me."

McCoy stood, and followed Spock to the transporter room.

--

Ensign Kelso, Lieutenant Lesley, Chekov, McCoy and Spock were the only people in the team going over to the Borg ship. The two security officers looked uneasy, and with reason – everyone knew what had happened to Lee.

When they beamed over to the ship, which for some reason had dropped its shields, they immediately set out. McCoy looked more uneasy than the security team, but his feelings were generated by his fear for Kirk, his friend and now possible Borg drone.

They couldn't detect his life signs, which prompted Spock to make a command decision.

"We must split up," he reasoned. "Chekov, Kelso, McCoy, the left hand passage. Mr Lesley, with me."

"Aye sir," Lesley said.

"Careful, Spock," McCoy cautioned. "We don't know what these things will do if they notice us."

"They won't," Spock said. "Of this I am confident."

"Uh huh," McCoy said. "Well, I'll ram 'confident' up your ass, if we all get turned into zombies."

"That is illogical Doctor – confidence is an intangible emotion, and therefore it would be impossible to ram it up my… anus," Spock replied, deadpan. McCoy raised an eyebrow.

"And they say you have no sense of humour," he smiled. Then he walked away, leaving Spock more confused than ever.

Then Spock, too walked off, looking for Kirk, Lt. Lesley looking around nervously behind him.

--

Inside his prison, he waited.

He could sense them. They were coming. He knew they wouldn't find him. Or that if they did, they couldn't help him.

The only reason _she_ hadn't set drones on them yet was because that was not the plan – the plan was that they would see him, like this, and they would despair, and then return to their people and speak of him being like this – and then they would all fall before _her_ might, and this ship, and this impetus.

Conquer.

Assimilate.

And James T. Kirk could only wait.

And watch.

And plan.

Because he was _damned_ if he was gonna let it happen.


	4. Locutus Of Borg

Spock and Lesley walked carefully through the dark, cold ship, their footsteps clanking on the grill floor.

"Sir, recommend we set charges and leave," Lesley said.

"No," Spock said. "We must rescue Captain Kirk."

"Sir, I hate to say this, but the chances are he's been… changed," Lesley said, hesitantly. Spock rounded on him.

"James T. Kirk is a highly intelligent, and very dangerous, tactical genius," Spock said. "With his knowledge, the Borg could destroy the Federation. We must prevent that from happening."

"Sir," Lesley said, quieted. "What are they doing?" he added, looking at the walls – which were lined with alcoves, each containing a single Borg drone.

"Since they have machine elements," Spock theorised on the spot, "I would imagine they are recharging."

Lesley watched the Borg with thinly disguised fear.

"What happens when their batteries are full?" he wondered.

--

McCoy turned to his team. Chekov and… where was Kelso?

"Where did Kelso go?" he hissed at Chekov. The young officer turned, and looked behind him, then turned back to McCoy in shock.

"I dunno, sair," he said. "He's just… wanished!"

"People don't just 'wanish,' kid, he's gotta be somehwere," McCoy snapped, heading back the way they came. He turned a corner, and then bolted back.

"Move!" he yelled, practicing what he preached. Chekov hesitated a moment, then saw three Borg drones marching around the corner – and then he bolted after McCoy, fumbling for his hand phaser…

--

Lesley noticed the Borg first. They were all waking up, flexing bionic limbs, moving…

"Sir," he said. Spock turned, noticed the Borg, then calmly said, "keep moving."

They did so, avoiding the drones that came near them, and all the while, Spock realised they were being herded. He reached for his communicator.

"Spock to Enterprise, prepare to beam us back," he said.

"Two minutes," Scotty said from the other end. "Gotta find you, and get a lock. Can ya stay still?"

"Not a good idea at present," Spock replied, still calm, but slightly more urgent. "How long?"

"Like I said, two minutes," Scotty repeated.

Spock nodded, though Scott could not see him, then he and Lesley turned another corner…

To see Kirk.

It was Kirk in name alone. He was pale, bloodless even, with black veins under his skin. His eyes were both cold and dead, their lifeless blue seeming to accuse the two Starfleet officers. His hair was gone, and his face was covered in implants, as well as his body – a slick black bodysuit, with blinking lights and armour.

"Jim," Spock said, almost shocked.

The Borg behind them were forgotten. Spock walked right up to Kirks face. Kirk stared at him, impassively. Lesley had Spock's back covered, but the Borg weren't advancing anymore. They were waiting.

"Captain Kirk," Spock said, addressing the Captain directly, meeting the cold eyes. Kirks eyes met his back; just then, Scotty called in.

"Energising," he said. "Got the whole lot…"

Kirk said one word, right before Spock vanished.

"Not… anymore."

--

Spock materialised on the transporter pad, and instantly, Scotty ran up to him.

"We got two problems," he said.

"Which are?" Spock asked.

"One…"

"We lost Kelso," McCoy interrupted, from behind them. Spock turned, and indeed, Mr Kelso was missing.

"It will be noted that he died performing his duty," Spock replied. "Mr Scott, continue."

"One, we're bein' hailed by Admiral Pike," Scott said. "And two, we're bein' hailed by that cube thing…"

Spock nodded, and headed for the bridge.

"Dr McCoy – we have Borg prisoners, and bodies," he called. "Study them!"

McCoy waved his arms in exasperation, and turned to Chekov, who looked a little intimidated.

"Study 'em! What does he want? I'm a Doctor, not a cyberneticist!" he complained.

"I'm sure Mr Spock understands, sair," Chekov placated. "Uh, excuse me…"

And with that, Chekov, Lesley and Scotty all walked out, leaving McCoy alone.

"Well shoot!" he said.

--

Spock walked onto the bridge.

"Put the Admiral on first," he said. Admiral Pike appeared on the screen, looking grim.

"We've just been informed of the full nature of the threat by your future self, Mr Spock," he said. "Where's Captain Kirk?"

Before Spock could reply, the Borg ships transmission got through, and an image of a dark room appeared adjacent to that of Pike. Pike reacted, so obviously, he could see it Then, Captain Kirk – what had been Captain Kirk – walked forward. Spock heard Uhura gasp, and Sulu swore in Japanese.

"I am Locutus of Borg," the former Kirk stated. "Your lives as they were are over – you will now serve the Borg as drones. All resistance is futile."

Pike blanched, but quickly recovered, and took on a grim tone.

"You're declaring war on the United Federation of Planets," he said. "I would advise you to reconsider."

"War is irrelevant," Kirk – Locutus – said. "Your species will be assimilated. All species will be assimilated."

"No," Pike said. "We'll fight you. We'd all rather die than become you."

"Death is irrelevant," Locutus said. "We shall begin with USS Enterprise."

"Sulu, get us out of here, now!" Gary Mitchell yelled, forgetting that Spock was with them. Sulu complied, and they were immediately at warp.

"The Borg are following!" Mitchell yelled to Spock. The transmission was still going. Locutus almost smiled.

"Spock," Pike said, quickly and urgently. "Set a course for the typhoon sector – get here as fast as you can! We'll get as many ships as we can together!"

"Thank you, Admiral," Spock said.

"Your fleet will fail," Locutus said.

Spock gave the Borg that had been his friend a withering glare, then turned to Uhura.

"Shut that abomination up," he snapped. Uhura looked at him, shocked by his vehemence for a moment, then smiled and pressed in a control sequence that blocked the Borg transmission.

"Furthermore, Commander," Pike said, "I am giving you a field promotion to Captain, in light of the… loss, of James Kirk.

Spock turned back to Pike, and nodded.

"Which means you're in the command division," Pike added, slightly mischievously.

Spock looked down at his blue shirt, then back up at Pike.

"Then I will require a change of uniform," he replied.

Pike sobered up, and looked truly solemn for a moment.

"James T. Kirk was a great man," he said, "and a good friend. He will be missed."

Spock nodded.

"I shall see you at the Typhon Sector, sir," he said.


	5. Kirk Remembered

Admiral Christopher Pike looked over his list of starships that would make it to the Typhon Sector in time for the battle against the Borg.

_USS Constitution. _

_USS Kelvin-A._

_USS Defiant. _

_USS Reliant._

_USS Saratoga._

_USS Bozeman._

_USS Griffon._

_USS Maverick._

_USS Miranda._

_USS Soyuz._

_USS Tolstoy._

_USS Valiant._

_USS Potenkin._

_USS Lexington. _

_USS Excalibur._

_USS Nelson._

_USS Victory._

_USS Constellation._

And the vessel Pike had selected for his flagship, the _USS Yorktown._ Each of these vessels was outfitted with the shield modifications and weaponry modifications that the older Spock had advised them to implement, and each one was burning to fight, to avenge the loss not only of Kirk, but as Spock and McCoy had told them, the _Exeter_ and Captain Tracey, as well.

A chime brought him out of his thoughts.

"Come in," he said. And in came Spock, or as he referred to himself, Spock Prime.

"I understand that James T. Kirk has been assimilated?" he began without preamble. Pike took a moment to remember what that meant, then it clicked.

"Yes," he said, equally blunt, as one had to be with the logical Vulcan people. Then the older Spock did something that no Vulcan expert could ever predict.

He sat down, almost physically shrunken.

"No," he said, the word coming out cracked and broken. "No," he said again. "Not possible."

"I'm sorry," Pike said. "I understand you were friends with Captain Kirk in your own universe…"

The look of sheer agony that the old Spock gave him shocked Pike into silence. They had been friends alright.

"I'm sorry…"

"James T. Kirk died twice in my universe," Spock said, with no thought that Pike didn't really want to know – this one loss was enough. But out of courtesy, Pike listened. "He had saved the universe, the Enterprise, you, me, everyone and everything, more times than I care to imagine. His first death was on the Enterprise-B."

Pike didn't ask what happened to the A and the original. Not the time.

"But that was not his end," Spock continued. "Years later, it turned out that he had been in a dimensional pocket – and he came out, to save a planet he had never seen, people he had never met. That was James T. Kirk."

Pike nodded.

"This Kirk saved me," he said, "and Earth, and then he saved the Beta Hydron colony, and the Caliphi, and the Boh-Dai. He did his duty, and more."

"Yes," Spock Prime nodded. "In one year, he did as much as any other Captain, and a little more. But he did not live up to his full potential."

"Does anyone ever?" Pike asked, rhetorically.

"No," Spock acknowledged. "No, no one really does."

He stood, and left the ready room, leaving Pike to ponder the lost officer.

--

Another Spock was pondering the list that Pike had had sent to _Enterprise_. He was thinking it over logically, the strengths of the _Soyuz_ and _Constitution_ class ships, compared to the weakness of the _Kelvin_ class ships in long range, their strength short range, _Miranda_ class power versus weak shield power… and he found himself unable to decide if it was a good fleet. He felt wrong, in this gold shirt and command striped cuff. He felt like an impostor in Kirks shoes.

He had appointed Gary Mitchell to be the first officer, and was quite happy with his performance so far. In truth, Spock had made him first officer because he was Spocks total opposite. Emotional, irrational at times… like a younger Kirk.

Spock had been different to Kirk.

That had helped.

Why couldn't he concentrate?

He leaned back, and looked at his reflection in the window, the gold shirt looking incongruous on him. He raised his eyebrow, and tried to think about himself in thirty years, when perhaps he would look more like his alternate self.

Would that make him a better Captain? _Age_? Age had never bothered Kirk.

No, no sense considering it ten thousand times…

"Captain Spock," a voice came through the intercom; Sulu. "We're approaching Typhon, sir."

"On my way," Spock said, standing, straightening his shirt, and walked out to meet his destiny.


	6. A Rescue In The Middle Of A Battle?

Spock Prime watched the Borg ship on the screen. He remembered his previous encounter with these beings, and closed his eyes at the thought – these Borg now were, fortunately, less advanced than that. But here, in this century, they were still deadly. He watched as ships began approaching them, firing weapons. He almost winced as the _USS Excalibur_ was immediately blasted apart.

Spock briefly wondered what had happened to the _Enterprise_, but then decided he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

--

On the bridge of the _Enterprise,_ the helm and navigation officers were engaged in a heated, but quiet discussion. Gary Mitchell, in the centre chair, paid close attention, as what he heard bothered him.

"What do you mean, 'you lost them'?" Sulu asked Chekov.

"Just what I said, Hikaru," Chekov replied, agitated. "I _lost_ them. They don't show up anymore!"

"Report," came a calm – some might say _too_ calm – voice rang out. Spock, resplendent in his new gold uniform, walked out onto the bridge, radiating that damnable calm.

"Keptin," Chekov reported, "I lost sensor track on the Borg wessel."

Spock raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean, sair, that one minute it was visible, present, and the next it wasn't," Chekov explained.

Spock checked his display, then looked up at Mitchell.

"Patch us through on the fleet frequency," Mitchell said at once. Uhura obeyed instantly, and a moment later, panicked voices came through the comm. system.

_"…shields at maximum…"_

_"This is Admiral Pike,"_ a strong, commanding voice called through._ "You are in violation of Federation Space; this is an act of war. You will return our kidnapped people and leave."_

The voice that replied was cold and heartless.

_**"We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us."**_

The words were bad enough. The voice, though cold and heartless and devoid of inflection, was that of James Kirk. Pikes reply was short and to the point.

_"Like hell. All ships, attack pattern omicron nineteen…"_

_"…firing…"_

_"This is Decker on_ Constellation_, shields at thirty nine percent, what the hell are they firing?!"_

_"USS_ Kelvin_, firing…"_

_"We're hit! Heavy damage…"_

_"Shields at thirty three…"_

_"…warp core breach imminent!" _

_"…thirty three wounded…"_

_"…USS_ Maverick_, requesting support on attack run…"_

_"Damn that thing is tough!"_

_"…twelve dead on USS_ Valiant_!"_

_"_Defiant _and_ Bozeman_, launch attack on sector C!"_

Spock cut the communication off with one press of a button, then turned to Sulu.

"How long until we reach the Typhon Sector?" he asked.

"Thirty three seconds and counting," Sulu reported.

"All hands, battle stations," Gary Mitchell called out. "Shields to maximum, stand by all weapons."

--

The Enterprise shot out of warp into chaos. Ships were flying all over the place, firing on the Borg cube, which just stood there, took it, and then threw it back harder. As the _Enterprise_ arrived, they could only watch as a Borg cutting beam shot out, raked the saucer section of the _Constitution_ class USS _Tolstoy_, and then impacted on the port nacelle, blasting the Bussard collector clean away. As they came out, Chekov at tactical initiated all the firing solutions he had worked out, raking the Borg ships surface with phaser fire – but it did no good, as the Borg shields held.

--

"Sulu, initiate manoeuvre six theta gamma," Spock ordered. "Hail the _Yorktown._"

Admiral Pikes face appeared on the screen.

_"Spock, glad you could join us," _Pike said, all the levity in his voice betrayed by the anxious face he was pulling. _"Gotta say, I don't like your guests."_

"It is obvious," Spock replied, "that they are using Captain Kirks knowledge of tactics to fight us."

_"Our adviser concurs," _Pike said, and then Spock Prime came onto screen. The bridge crew took a moment to register that another Spock – one who was considerably older and looked much more weary – but Spock was straight to business.

"You have fought these before," he said. "What is your advice?"

_"I have given all the advice I can," _Spock Prime replied. _"Our best option would be to attempt to retrieve Captain Kirk."_

"That would be illogical," Spock countered. "The assimilation process appears irreversible."

"Not necessarily," McCoy countered from Spock's side. He was on the bridge to watch the fireworks. He addressed Pike directly. "I looked over the unconscious Borg; he was from the USS Exeter. I worked on him a little, removed most of the implants, and tried to get rid of the nanoprobes – no effect I'm afraid. But I will tell you – he remembers who he is now. He spoke, and he identified himself as Ensign Gold."

Spock looked over his shoulder at McCoy, eyebrows raised.

"Do you think you could restore the captain in the same way?" he asked.

"If I got him here on Enterprise, sure," McCoy replied.

_"A rescue mission in the middle of a battle?" _Pike asked.

_"It has been done,"_ Spock Prime said. "_I will require a team to meet me…"_

"It is illogical for you to go," Spock countered. "You are…"

"_There are two of me," _Spock Prime said. _"Which means_ I _am expendable."_

"You have knowledge of the Borg's future, and their advancements," Spock argued. Then he got to his feet, and looked around him at his crew, before addressing Pike again. "I will go. Mr Mitchell, assemble a security team and accompany me. Mr Chekov – you have the conn. Your orders are to keep firing."

Mitchell stood, and accompanied his Captain, muttering orders for men called Andrews and Feller. Chekov turned to the Borg ship, grinned at Sulu briefly, then pressed every fire button and sequence he knew.

"If there was ever a time," he said to no one in particular. "This is it."

--

Spock Prime sighed, something which looked incongruous enough to Pike.

"He'll be fine," he said.

"No," Spock Prime said. "I don't think so."

--

The small team – Spock, Feller, Mitchell and Andrews – beamed in at a small junction.

"Since the Captains life signs have become identical to that of other Borg," Spock said, "we will have to search for him."

The team nodded, raising their weapons.

They quickly marched through the Borg cube, ignoring the drones and being ignored in return.

"Where can he be?" Mitchell asked. Just then, they turned a corner… and there he was. Locutus of Borg was watching a display of the battle before them. Only two drones were with him.

"Mr Feller," Spock said, calmly. "Cover us."

Feller, a young, inexperienced, wiry officer, with a mop of blonde hair and nervous green eyes, nodded, and raised his rifle, watching out for Borg. Spock, Mitchell and Andrews stepped forwards.

"I'll get Kirk," Mitchell said. "Just take out his guards."

Spock raised an eyebrow at Mitchell's tone – since he was not in command of this mission – but let it go when he remembered that Mitchell was a friend of Kirks. He aimed his phaser rifle, and Andrews aimed his, and they fired as one, dropping the drone like flies. Mitchell ran forwards, just as Feller yelled out "they're coming!"

"Help Feller," Spock instructed Andrews, and the older, iron haired security officer nodded. He ran to help his colleague as Spock went to help Mitchell, but he was too late.

Locutus had a saw arm in place of one of his own, and with the enhanced strength of a Borg drone, he had lifted Mitchell, who was screaming in agony – as Borg nanoprobes coursed through his veins. The saw arm impaled Mitchell, but before Kirk – Locutus – could do anything else, Spock grabbed him and nerve pinched him.

"Spock to _Enterprise,_" he called. "Beam us back."

--

They materialised on the pad, and McCoy was with them in an instant. Mitchells' body had come through with them, the nanoprobes having ceased their coursing, and died with him.

"He's dead, Spock," McCoy said, sadly.

"Can you help Captain Kirk?" Spock replied, glancing briefly at Mitchell's body.

"I think… so…" McCoy said, looking up behind Spock. Spock turned as well, to see Feller and Andrews facing the two of them.

Nanoprobes were coursing through their veins, and their eyes were cold and dead. As they watched, a spidery implant erupted out of Fellers cheek.

"You will be assimilated," they said as one.


	7. Die

Spock and McCoy tensed, as the two drones advanced. Spock stood, and hit one across the face, before pushing it back, and he kicked the second. McCoy stood behind him, tensed. The drones quickly recovered, and pushed Spock to the floor, knocking McCoy over in the process.

But before Spock or McCoy could do anything more, Locutus sat up, and stared at the two new drones. They stayed perfectly still, then came to attention. Spock dragged McCoy to his feet, and addressed Locutus calmly.

"You are a prisoner of the United Federation of Planets," he began.

"Shut up, Spock," Locutus cut him off, still in that dull tone of voice, but with wording that sounded vaguely like...

"Jim?" McCoy asked.

"Sort of," Jim Kirk replied, standing to his Borgified feet. "Beam me back, and quick."

"What?" Spock said, before McCoy could reply.

"I've been spending ages trying to get my body back," Kirk said, as quickly as his Borg voice could manage. "But I need you to send me back to that ship – and I need to destroy it. I can make them destroy themselves."

"No!" McCoy shouted instantly. "You'll die!"

"How will you achieve this?" Spock asked.

"Too complicated, Spock," Kirk said, facing his friend one last time. The two drones stayed perfectly still. "I'm sorry – but there is no other way."

Locutus's face was blank and cold – but Jim's eyes were alive. Spock searched them for signs of duplicity, and found none. McCoy, however, couldn't let this horrible thing come to pass without comment.

"NO!" he yelled. "There must be some other way. It can't end like this!"

"No, Bones," Kirk said, the word sounding odd with Locutus' intonation. "There is no other way, as I have said. I'm sorry."

McCoy looked upset – profoundly upset. Spock decided now would be the best time to send Kirk back, and walked to the console. Kirk stared at the two drones, and nodded, and they walked blankly off of the pad.

Leonard McCoy watched this and despaired.

He had lost too much in his life. His wife had left him. His daughter believed he had abandoned her, because that's what his wife had let her believe. For four years, the only friend he had truly had was Jim Kirk. And now he was about to die.

"It is for the best," Jim said, finally, as he waited to be sent to his death. "I can't be assed waiting for my hair to grow back."

The joke, delivered completely deadpan in Locutus' dull monotone, made McCoy smile.

Spock entered in the sequence to send him back, and then he raised his hand.

"Farewell," he said. "Since my usual salute would be inappropriate, I will merely say... prosper."

McCoy said nothing, but nodded. And James T. Kirk smiled.

"Here goes," he said.

--

On the Borg ship, his thoughts amplified by a factor of ten thousand, this plan would work. From nowhere else could he have pulled off what he was about to.

The drones had now will. They had thoughts, but no will. They served the computerised will of the Collective.

James T. Kirk had more will than half the human race put together. His mind was strong. And with it, he forced all that will into one single command, given to the drones, to the ship, to everything Borg within ten thousand light years...

_Die._

--

To Spock and McCoy, horror struck (though Spock would never show it) in the transporter room, it looked like this; the two assimilated crewmen suddenly collapsed, and they're faces flushed. The nanoprobe veins had vanished completely. They both knew what that meant.

--

To Admiral Pike, watching on the dark and smashed up bridge of the USS _Yorktown_, it looked like this. One minute the Borg Cube was firing weapons, blasting another ship out of existence... the next, it exploded into shrapnel, a great green light expanding in the wreckage.

And then, it was all over.

James Kirk had done it again.

--

He was dead, or at least he should have been. But then, if he was dead, his eyes should not be open .And he should not be looking at the ceiling on the bridge of a star ship.

"Time to wake up now," a polite voice came. Jim Kirk sat up, and saw a middle age man, slightly chunky, in an Admiral's uniform – no, an old fashioned Admirals uniform, of the sort his father would have seen - sitting on the command chair of a _Kelvin_ class bridge. "I must say, that was quite an impressive death."

Jim Kirk raised both his eyebrows, and looked down at himself. He was wearing a command uniform, of the _Kelvin_ era.

"That's nuts," he said.

"Yes," the man smiled. "Oh sorry, should introduce myself... I'm Q."

"Q?" Jim repeated.

"Yes, Q," the man named Q smiled.

"That's even more nuts," Kirk declared.

"Yes, it is rather," Q smiled. "If you prefer, I'm known as the philosopher."

"I'll stick with Q," Jim said, pulling a face. "So... is this the afterlife?"

"Goodness me, no," Q smiled. "Just a... nice spot for a think. Actually, you're technically _meant_ to be dead, but I decided to intervene. I mean, you've done so much and yet... compared to the _other_ you, so _little_."

"You know about the other me?" Jim asked.

"Yes," Q smiled. "I make it my business to study alternate lives. They make our own seem so... strange. By the way, I want to show you something..."

He waved a hand, and suddenly, they were standing in a great hall, watching Admiral Pike speak to an assembled group of Starfleet officers.

"James T. Kirk was a great man," Pike was saying. "Brave and noble and true. And only his great strength of will allowed the Federation, and humanity, to survive this, greatest threat. His memory will live on, and long after we are gone, worlds will still remember the name James T. Kirk."

Then a different speaker stood, tall, dressed in a Starfleet captains uniform. He was solemn, and his face was tinged with some unreadable expression.

Spock.

"We are gathered here today to pay final respects to our honored dead," he began. But it should be noted that this death takes place in the shadow of victory, of triumph against odds that would have been considered impossible by any other man. Jim Kirk, was not such a man. He did not believe that any situation was unwinnable. And his sacrifice has proven that. He will be missed."

Kirk could almost see emotion on Spocks face, and it moved him greatly. But the best was yet to come. Spock Prime, older, wiser, and infinitely sadder, shoulders slumped and eyes dejected, stood and faced the crowd.

"Long ago and far away, a friend spoke words at the funeral of a man. These words apply to James T. Kirk, as well as anyone else. 'Of my friend, I can only say this: of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most... human.'"

Spock Prime paused.

"James T. Kirk died, as only James T. Kirk can. Bravely, for good reason, making a difference. He went boldly, where none had gone before."

"That's enough, I think," Q said, taking Jim's arm.

"This is the end, isn't it," Jim stated, more than asked. "I'll never see them again."

"You will," Q smiled. "When you're needed, James Kirk, you will return. I promise. Now follow me... this promises to be quite... entertaining..."

And James T. Kirk vanished.


End file.
